“The evidence is clear – great teaching is the bedrock on which school improvement has to be grounded to achieve sustainable improvements for pupils. Developing Great Teaching shows us all the central importance of a strong focus on professional development. It has inspired the work of TDT – and many others – for more than a decade.” Gareth Conyard, CEO, Teacher Development Trust
The TDT was founded in 2012 to promote effective professional development. One of the first substantive acts of the charity was to commission a comprehensive study to lay a foundation for its work. This review – Developing Great Teaching (completed with kind support from TES Global) – provides a foundational summary of the features of effective professional development in schools.
Central to its findings is that professional development opportunities that are carefully designed and have a strong focus on pupil outcomes have a significant impact on student achievement.
The review was conducted by an expert team of Professors Steve Higgins and Rob Coe of Durham University, Philippa Cordingley of CUREE and Professor Toby Greany of the UCL Institute of Education.
What does the review tell us?
This work adds crucial nuance and detail to the components that constitute “careful design”, including:
- The duration and rhythm of effective support.
- The consideration of participants’ needs.
- Alignment of professional development processes, content and activities.
- The content of effective professional development.
- Activities associated with effective professional development.
- The role of external providers and specialists.
- Collaboration and peer learning.
- Leadership around professional development
We strongly encourage practitioners, school leaders, providers of professional development, policy makers, and all those with a role in providing high quality support and development for teachers, to engage with the review’s findings.
“If you read this as a head, you’ll find a lot of pointers as to how you can improve the quality of professional development in your school.” Russell Hobby, now CEO, TKAT
“How teachers are supported in their learning is the single most important thing in terms of ensuring that young people’s life chances have the best opportunity to flourish.” Philippa Cordingly, Chief Executive at CUREE Ltd
“It’s incredibly important that we respect our teachers and give them the opportunities for professional development that our young people deserve them to have. We need to make sure that teachers grow and develop, stay in classrooms, enjoy, and have an ever greater impact on the next generation.” David Weston, Founder of TDT
“I wish we had a minister for teaching. I wish we had a minister whose first focus was to implement this (report). To think about how we recruit the best people into teaching, how we give them really good career pathways, how we make sure they are really well led in their teaching, and that we give them fantastic, long term, consistent professional development. That would be the thing that would really make a difference and this report is a massive contribution to that.” Lord Jim Knight
Hear more from the research and sector leaders:
Turning Research Into Practice
We use the findings of this report in the development of our own programmes, including our flagship CPD Leadership qualification and our Building Expert Schools Programme. A good place to start is our Online Learning Modules, including on Learning How to Foster Trust for Professional Development. Find out more via our CPD Leadership Hub.
Download Options
Read a summary of the review’s findings, with extrapolated implications for leaders here
Read the full report on the review’s findings:
Key findings presented by the research team at the House of Commons 2015 here:
